Also in this week's Oregon Brews and News: The national Brewers Association reports 2022 was stable in craft beer, and check out breweries' Earth Day events.
Updated 5:30 AM When Pelican Brewing opened its doors in May 1996, its hometown of Pacific City bore little resemblance to the bustling beach community we all know today. As brewmaster and co-owner Darron Welch tells it, summer weekends were the only sure thing when it came to tourists dropping by the otherwise sleepy burg. “We’d get busy for a brief summertime window,” he says. But fall, winter and spring? “Boy, it was pretty quiet around here.” Three guaranteed months of business isn’t exactly a number that any owner wants to bet on, particularly in an industry with traditionally tight margins. The first few years were indeed mired in unprofitability, leading Welch to always wonder whether Pelican would survive the next slow season.